Trailer Brakes Jerk and Buck During Hard Braking

Updated 06/26/2020 | Published 06/25/2020

Question:

i have had this happen a few times. when pulling my dump trailer loaded and i get on the brakes hard the truck starts jerking/bucking hard as i approach the stop. almost like it wont stop even after stopped or close too it. wondering what is causing it and what i can do to stop it. little scary...lol

asked by: Jason

Expert Reply:

I spoke with my buddy at Tekonsha, who is our leading supplier of brake controllers. He cited two possible issues that could be causing your problem. First, the trailer brakes work best when they have a little heat in them, so to speak. If you pull out onto the street and your very first braking event is a hard brake, the brakes won't be quite as responsive. If you apply light pressure with the brake controller manual brake switch when you first start out, it'll heat up the brakes a bit, making them more effective. The second possibility is called brake reverberation which can occur if the gain on your brake controller is set too high. I'd recommend running through the controller set up instructions from scratch, to ensure it's set correctly. I believe that the second possibility is more likely, but the first possibility could be a contributing factor.

expert reply by: Mike L